asafiri toka benin mpaka lagos akiwa ndani ya tairi la ndege..
A teenager beat airline and airport security at the Benin Airport and sneaked into the tyre compartment of a Lagos-bound Arik plane, where he flew safely to the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, on Saturday morning.
There was, however, pandemonium at the airside of the Lagos airport when passengers disembarking from the aircraft saw the teenager as he emerged from the undercarriage (aircraft tyre hole) to join fellow travellers.
The adolescent stowaway, identified as Daniel Ihekina, was immediately arrested by security officials at the airport.
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria and Arik Air confirmed the incident.
Although the General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said full and urgent investigation had commenced into the mysterious circumstances that led to the huge breach in airport and airline security, the situation has continued to beat the imagination of aviation authorities in the country.
The situation, which has become a major source of worry among the authorities, has also led to a blame game between FAAN and Arik.
FAAN, in a statement on Saturday, said it held “Arik Air liable for the circumstances leading to the stowaway of a teenage boy on its aircraft at the Benin Airport.”
In a statement signed by Dati, FAAN, said, “Arik Air acted with impunity by not stopping the aircraft to check when the crew and ground personnel’s attention was drawn to an abnormality on the tarmac.”
According to the FAAN spokesman, the procedure for such infraction is for the crew to abort the flight and return to the apron for check-up.
He blamed the airline for the alleged impunity, warning that the airport authority would not tolerate such infraction from any operator.
He said, “This is arrant display of impunity. The aircraft should not have taxied further, but return to the apron until a proper check is carried out on all parts of the aircraft. FAAN will not tolerate such impunity henceforth from Arik or any airline. Any violation would be met with applicable sanctions.
Dati, however, said the teenager was already giving useful information to unravel this ‘misnomer.’
In a swift reaction, Arik, in a statement, blamed FAAN for the huge breach in security, noting that the incessant cases of security breaches at the nation’s airport had become a major source of concern to the airline.
The statement quoted Arik’s Managing Director, Mr. Chris Ndulue, as saying, “We are worried by the incessant security lapses at our airports. We are appealing to the management of FAAN to immediately address the problem.
“The management of Arik Air has expressed shock over the incident, wondering how the teenager beat the aviation security personnel at the Benin Airport to get to the runway.”
Arik said its pilot had reported to the control tower the presence of a strange boy in the bush about 200 – 300 metres at the end of runway before leaving the airport.
Ndulue said the control tower had told its pilot that they were sending security men to the place to arrest the boy.
Ndulue, however, said, “As the captain was making his final turn, preparatory for take-off, a cabin crew called his attention to the information by some of the passengers that they saw a boy running towards the airplane. The First Officer confirmed that they had observed it earlier and alerted the control tower which responded that they had sent the patrol team to arrest the boy. The captain again reported to the control tower and was informed that the situation was under control and that he had been cleared for take-off.
“On arrival at the domestic wing of MMA, Lagos, a teenage boy, who apparently had sneaked into the aircraft main wheel well jumped out and was arrested by Arik personnel and handed over to FAAN security.”
The Arik aircraft with registration number, 5N-MJG Flight 44, which left the Benin Airport around 9am for Lagos, was said to have on board top officials of the Edo State Government.
A passenger aboard the flight, who spoke with Sunday Punch on the telephone said, “We felt the signs in Benin when the plane was about leaving and as it was moving slowly, we heard a loud noise as if the tyre crushed somebody on the ground and we all started shouting. It means the boy was already inside that tyre compartment before we left. We left for Lagos, but when we landed at Lagos Airport, the boy came out from the tyre hole, everybody started shouting.
“But speaking seriously, this shows that we have a serious problem as regards securing our airports. This is a serious security breach. If that boy was carrying bomb, it means he would have succeeded in blowing up the plane. How can somebody be in an aircraft without being detected; we are in trouble in this country.”
Though no official at the Benin Airport volunteered comment on the issue, it was gathered that the teenager may have gained entrance into the airport from the Akenzua road axis, where perimeter fencing is non-existent at different points.
In 2010, a desperate young Nigerian, Emeka Okechukwu Okeke, who tried to smuggle himself to the United States, died in the tyre compartment of a Delta Airlines aircraft and was discovered on arrival in New York.
Okeke, sneaked into the place at Lagos airport.
In 2012, the dead body of a young Nigerian man was also discovered in the wheel well, the undercarriage compartment of a domestic airline, after it returned from South Africa.
kwa hisani ya mitandao ya kijamii ya kinaigeria...
ticket za world cup kuanza kuuzwa kesho rasmi
mume wangu anatembea na housegirl naomba msaada
As Alice drove to her friend’s place, she rehearsed what to tell her. How would she tell her friend that Mike, her husband, had impregnated Peace, her maid again? This was the third time she would be seeking her friend’s help in terminating the poor teenager’s pregnancy! She made up her mind that this would be the last.
But Mary, her friend, disagreed with her vehemently. “Alice, I cannot follow you to the clinic for another abórtion. What if she loses her womb or her life in the process? I think it is high time something was done to your husband. He must stop sleeping with your maids,” she said.
Alice felt humiliated by her friend’s outburst. She sat on the chair and cried. Mike had always been a thorn in her flesh! For almost 12 years of marriage, she could not point at any good deed he had done in her life or the marriage. Her mind flashed back to the last discussion she had with him at home:
“You are always complaining that I have not done anything for you in this marriage. Don’t you have four beautiful children? How many of your mates have four boys in their marriages?”
“But Mike, I am not talking about the children, I am referring to the vices you have wrought in this marriage in the last 11 years. I am tired! You keep digressing to inanities when serious issues are discussed. So, how do you explain the pregnancy Peace is carrying?” Alice said accusingly.
“Pregnancy? Peace? Look here, woman, I don’t have a clue of what you are insinuating and I have told you I don’t want to have anything to do with either you or the stupid maids you bring to this house,” Mike said and left the house in anger. Things had always taken this pattern in their marriage!
She worked in a bank and had risen to a managerial level. From the first year of their marriage, Alice had always hired helps to mind the home, especially her children, who all came in quick succession.
She had lost count of the number of domestic helps her husband had slept with. Whether old or young, Mike was a randy man, who slept with her maids.
Ruth, the first child minder she hired after the birth of her firstborn, was a Ghanaian. Plump and pretty, the middle aged nanny was hired through a colleague. Ruth was a single mother and had come to Nigeria to fend for her four children. Initially, Alice never suspected any foul play between the woman and her husband. She was a very good nanny, who also helped with housekeeping and this saved Alice a lot of stress. Before she returned from work, there was food on the table and her baby would have been well taken care of.
Since her husband worked in the civil service, he arrived home first and she was happy that he helped supervise domestic staff especially the nanny. But after the birth of Godson, their second child, Ruth insisted on leaving! Alice begged that the nanny should wait and help nurture her baby because she was resuming work in less than a month. Ruth did not budge but said she wanted to go and stay with her children in Ghana.
When she resumed and lamented to her colleague who brought Ruth to her, she was shocked to learn that Ruth was not in Ghana but had rented an apartment in town. Alice got the address and traced the house where the nanny lived. She wanted to beg her to return to her home. It was a work day and she had closed early to check on nanny Ruth. Was she shocked when she met Mike there? He laid on the bed dressed in a pair of boxers! She didn’t utter a word but left. Obviously, Mike rented the apartment for the nanny so that they would have time for their escapade- her second baby would have posed a hindrance.
If he apologised over Ruth’s case, he never did on Uzo, the teenage girl she brought from the village. Suddenly, she observed the flat chest of the girl was sprouting! Though Uzo never got pregnant, the girl told Alice’s mother that ‘daddy is always sleeping with me when auntie goes to work.’
She managed to get a crèche where she put her children but when she was pregnant the third time, she could not help but get another maid. This time, she was a 14-year-old from her pastor. If Alice thought her husband would be scared of their pastor and not come near the girl, she was wrong! In fact, Susan, the maid, was the first teenager she took for an abórtion! The girl agreed to terminate the pregnancy after her mother collected over N100, 000 from Alice. It was to seal the promise not to tell the pastor or anyone in the church!
That marked the beginning of series of abórtions she had for over five girls. But her husband kept denying his action.
“I still believe Peace should keep this pregnancy and have the baby,” she heard Mary said as she jolted to reality.
“Why should I keep a pregnancy Mike has denied paternity? What if she had slept with someone else?” Alice said.
“Both of us know your husband is responsible. That girl was brought by my sister from Togo and I don’t know what to tell her if anything happens to her,” Mary said. For Alice, it seemed her world had come to an end.
source:http://www.informationng.com
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